


More Than A Bandage, Kid

by writerstrash



Series: Mr. Stark & His Kid [2]
Category: Iron Man - Fandom, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - Fandom, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Irondad, Parent Tony Stark, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-02-28 23:05:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18766144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerstrash/pseuds/writerstrash
Summary: Peter Parker is hurt on Spider-Man duty a little more than he thought.





	More Than A Bandage, Kid

Tony had been working in the shop when Friday sent through the alert. It was just past midnight, and Tony wasn't too shocked to learn that Peter was out being the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man once again. He felt a little hypocritical every time he told Peter it was too late to be out, and that looking for danger was different to helping out when needed. Peter was a magnet for trouble, and despite how capable he was, Tony always worried.

What he was shocked about was the urgency of Friday's message.

_"Peter's vitals are indicating high levels of adrenaline, sir."_

"That's not really out of the ordinary," Tony sighed, pausing his work. "Kid's adrenaline is always high. He's literally swinging between buildings all-"

 _"Levels are indicating an adrenaline rush triggered by significant_ _injury,"_

The stats Friday pulled up now had Tony's full attention. Everything was rising, and blood levels were dropping.

"Shit," Tony gasped, jumping out of his chair. "Get me through to him, now!"

A moment later, Friday had connected with Karen, giving Tony access to Peter's suit. Before he could get a word out, he heard Peter groaning in pain. Whimpering. Sobbing. 

"Hey, Pete, what's going on?"

It took a moment before Tony got a response.

"M-Mr. Stark?" he asked. "Where are you?"

"On my way kid," he assured. "Don't move, alright? You're not looking too good."

"Huh?" he grumbled. "I'm...what?"

"What happened?" Tony asked, already soaring up into the sky, en route. 

"I...someone was holding up some kids behind the....behind the..." Peter trailed off.

Tony could hear the boy coughing violently, spitting out liquid loudly against the concrete around him. Spitting out blood. Mouthfuls of blood. 

"Ughhhh," Peter groaned. "I c-can't stand up properly,"

"God,  _don't_ try standing up!" Tony ordered. "Just stay where you are, stay still, I'm coming."

"I just...I just got hit a little hard Mr. Stark, I'm..." he broke off, another coughing fit and a splatter of blood. "I'm okay, I just...just need to bandage myself up...I can...I can do that myself, I...I always do,"

"I know you do," Tony muttered. "But I think this is a little more than a bandage, kid."

"How...how do you know that? It doesn't even...it doesn't hurt too bad, I just...I feel tired,"

That was the last thing Tony needed to hear. He set the thrusters to max, praying he would get to Peter in time. 

"Friday, get Banner to ready the lab for incoming," Tony ordered. "Send him through Peter's vitals and stats."

_"Sending now."_

The line was far too quiet for Tony's liking. Peter was usually chatty. It made Tony's stomach churn to hear nothing but silence now. Peter was hurt. He was really hurt.

"Pete, how you holding up?" 

He could hear the deep gulps Peter was taking, trying to get as much oxygen as he could. 

"I'm...I'm okay," Peter wheezed back. "I think I'm...I'm tasting a...a lot of blood. But you know...once I had so much blood in my mouth...but I...it turned out that I...I bit my tongue when I landed...and it hurt so bad for like a week,"

"I'm sure it would," Tony agreed, trying to keep him talking. "I'm nearly there Pete, you ready for a ride?"

"Uh...uh huh," Peter breathed back. "Is it...is it okay if I...if I nap?"

"No, no, no napping kid!" Tony pleaded. "Come on, stay awake! Tell me what you were doing out tonight."

"I was just sitting up on the buildings...I like to look around," Peter explained, his breathing sounding terribly laboured. "I was...was on my way home, and I was gonna get a burrito, so... so I swung by..."

Tony waited.

"Yeah? Swung by where?"

There was no response.

But Tony could see Peter now. From up high, he looked so small. So fragile. So broken.

Tony landed right by him, feeling sick as he looked at the trail of blood Peter left behind him as he dragged himself over the concrete. He was in an empty parking lot near a corner convenience store. Whoever did this was long gone, but Tony promised himself he would find them. Somehow.

Right now he needed to focus on Peter. He had his mask off, and he was so pale. He was sweating as if he had been pulled from a furnace. It was a sight that would stick with Tony forever. 

"I got you," Tony assured, cupping Peter's cheek. "Hey, it's me kid, I'm here,"

"M...Stark," he mumbled. "I was...burrito? I...was getting a burrito,"

"I'll get you as many burritos as you want, as long as you promise to stay awake for me,"

The blood was everywhere, and it was spilling from just above Peter's hip. There was no weapon lodged inside or laying around on the ground, which meant whoever stabbed him had taken it with them. If it was lodged inside, it could have blocked some of the blood-loss. But instead, Peter was fading. Fast.

"Alright kiddo, up we go," Tony warned, reaching around to cradle Peter in his arms. "We'll be there in no time. Just stay awake for me, okay? Stay awake, Pete."

"Mmm," Peter whined, in a dangerous state between asleep and awake. "M'not that bad, M-Mr. S..."

"I feel like you're definitely underestimating things right now," Tony disagreed.

"It only hurts a little,"

"Yeah, give it a another minute. Your adrenaline is dropping, soon you're...it's not gonna feel too good, Pete."

"What happened?" the boy asked, unaware of the fact they were travelling over the entire city as Tony pushed the suit to it's limits.

"You got hurt," 

"But...but I always get hurt," Peter explained, drowsy. "I can...I can take care of my-"

"I know you can. You're very independent and grown up and all that. But this is a little more than you can take care of, okay?"

It was silent among them for a few moments, and Tony looked down to make sure Peter hadn't fallen asleep. But his eyes were open, staring right up at him. Well, right up at Iron Man's faceplate. But he knew it was Tony underneath.

"Am I hurt...like, bad?" he asked, innocently and fearfully.

That face, that voice, that fear coming from Peter almost broke Tony.

"You're gonna be fine," he assured.

"It's bad...isn't it?"

"It looks...uncomfortable,"

"Can...can I please nap?"

"We're almost there Pete, can you stay awake just a little longer?"

"But I'm so tired,"

"I know, I know buddy, but keep talking to me, okay?"

"Can you still hold me when I nap? S'nice here,"

"Wakey wakey kid, this is not nap time! Stay with me!"

But Peter could barely keep his eyes open. He could barely mumble out a single word anymore. He was exhausted. He needed to rest.

* * *

Peter was having a very, very weird dream. He could feel himself being jostled around, poked and prodded, and he could hear Tony's voice yelling and Bruce's voice calmly calling back to him. Mr. Stark sounded frantic. Panicked.

But Peter couldn't remember why. He couldn't remember how he even got here. All he knew was that he was not back at home, waking up in his own bed. 

Instead his eyes opened to the ceiling of the medical bay at the Avengers tower. The lights were dim and he was toasty warm, and if he hadn't heard Tony calling for him, he would have fallen right back to sleep.

"He's awake," Tony called again. "Banner, he's awake!"

"Just give him a minute," Bruce warned. "Hey Pete, mind if you look this way for me?"

Peter followed Bruce's request, turning to the man with wide-awake, confused eyes. Bruce watched him carefully, reaching out to grab his chin gently and move his head about, looking for specific reactions. Then he turned to the monitor just beside the bed, reading over the data.

"Your healing is something else, huh?"

"My healing?" Peter asked, confused. "What...wait, did I get hurt?"

Tony let out a long sigh, rubbing his tired eyes. He looked like a stressed-out parent waiting in the emergency room for their kid to get out of surgery from doing something stupid. It wasn't too far from the actual truth, really.

"Yeah, if you want to downplay it as you  _got hurt_ then sure, that works," Tony shook his head. "Got hurt, got stabbed, same thing."

Peter winced slightly as he moved, immediately remembering.

"I got stabbed," he breathed out. "Ah! Ow. Right there, I'm guessing?"

"Yeah, right there," Tony sighed, watching Peter's hand begin to travel toward it. "Don't even think about touching it."

Peter backed off.

"It's healing?"

"You lost a lot of blood, so the cells are still building up," Bruce explained. "But you're healing. Slowly, but surely."

"Thanks," Peter gave him a grateful look.

"You're one lucky kid," Bruce smiled. "I'll be back to check up in an hour, and I can fix up your I.V for some pain-relief again if you need it,"

With that, it was down to Peter and Tony in the little room.

"Mr. Stark," Peter began, noticing the man's eyes glued to the data screen. "Uh, thank you for helping me-"

"You scared the shit out of me," Tony shook his head. "I've had heart scares before, so believe me when I tell you that last night you almost gave me a heart attack,"

Peter frowned.

"I'm sorry-"

"No, this isn't a 'you need to be sorry' situation," Tony shook his head. "But you need to let me know when you need help, okay? I only came to you last night because Friday told me you were in trouble. You'd lost so much blood before that. You'd been on your own in that parking lot for a while before Friday got the stats from your vitals."

"I would have called if I...if I knew how bad it was," Peter explained.

"But you wouldn't have, that's what I'm saying," Tony sighed. "Pete, you said it yourself. You get hurt all the time. And you patch yourself up on your own."

"So do you," Peter defended.

"I'm not denying that," Tony shrugged. "But I have procedures in place for when that happens. I have Friday programmed, I have my lab set up, I have a plan in place. But you do everything you can to detach your suit from Friday because you want to be out there on your own, proving yourself. I'm not saying you can't be independent. I know you can be. You do a good job as Spider-Man kid, you won't ever hear me say otherwise. But everyone needs backup sometimes."

Peter was quiet as Tony spoke, fiddling with his bedsheets.

"Sometimes...when I get hurt, I know I should have seen it coming. I should have thought about it more, I should have taken my time. It's my mistakes that get me hurt, Mr. Stark. I...it's embarrassing to need backup for something I got myself into."

"Peter, getting hurt is nothing to be embarrassed about. No matter  _how_ you got hurt, you're hurt, and there's nothing wrong with getting help."

"I know,"

"Well, you clearly don't."

"I didn't mean to get stabbed," Peter fought.

"Obviously. But why didn't you call me?"

"I didn't think it was so bad," Peter shrugged. "I usually patch myself up just fine."

Tony chuckled slightly at that.

"Yeah, you know what your solution for this was? A bandage. Singular. Just a little old bandage to a severe stab wound."

Peter rolled his eyes.

"I didn't know,"

"I know," Tony agreed. "Which is why, when you get hurt and you're not sure how bad it is or how you're going to fix it or get out of whatever situation you're in, you call  _me_ , alright?"

Peter took a moment before nodding.

"What if it's late?"

"Doesn't matter."

"What if you're busy?"

"You're more important than me being busy, Pete."

"But...what if I call you, and then it turns out I was just overreacting or it's not a big deal or it's not really-"

"You're not getting it," Tony shook his head. "When I say call me whenever you need me, I mean  _whenever_ you need me, okay? If you call me, it's obviously important, and you need to stop second-guessing yourself."

Peter was quiet for a moment as he thought.

"Okay," he gave a slow nod. 

"We're on the same page?"

"Yeah," Peter smiled. "I get it, I'll call you."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Good. Because I'm being serious kid, I almost had a heart-attack."

Even though the words were serious, Tony softened his jab with a smile, reaching over to place his hand on Peter's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Peter sighed.

"You don't have to be sorry," Tony shook his head. "Just try to keep stabbings to a minimum, okay?"

Peter chuckled slightly, reaching up to rub his tired eyes.

"I'll do my best."


End file.
